Exhaust fan

Abstract

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a portable exhaust fan for removing airborne materials from a localized area is disclosed. The portable exhaust fan comprises: a housing having an inlet opening and a discharge opening and configured so as to define an air passageway between said inlet and discharge openings; a blower unit mounted within said housing such that rotating blades of said blower unit are located within said air passageway to draw air into said inlet opening and to cause said drawn air to travel through said air passageway and to exit through said discharge opening; a flexible tube having a proximate end connected to said inlet opening of said exhaust fan and a distal end for placement in the localized area such that air drawn into said inlet opening is air located primarily in the localized area and travels through said flexible tube; and an inlet filter removably attached over said inlet opening of said tube such that air drawn into said inlet opening travels through said inlet filter, wherein said inlet filter is constructed and arranged to remove airborne materials that can accumulate in said tube or said housing unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present invention is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 418,413, filed Apr. 18, 2003 entitled EXHAUST FAN FOR REMOVING AIRBORNE MATERIALS and naming as inventor Michael E. Goyetche, now pending, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 213,676, filed Aug. 6, 2002 entitled EXHAUST FAN FOR REMOVING AIRBORNE MATERIALS and naming as inventor Michael E. Goyetche, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,341 B2, issued on Jul. 19, 2003, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 639,869, filed Aug. 16, 2000 entitled PORTABLE EXHAUST FAN FOR REMOVING AIRBORNE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS and naming as inventor Michael E. Goyetche, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,190 B1, issued on Aug. 27, 2002.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to exhaust fans and, more particularly, to exhaust fans for removing airborne materials. [0004] 2. Related Art [...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] Various embodiments of the present invention provide certain advantages and overcome certain drawbacks of conventional exhaust fans. Not all embodiments of the invention share the same advantages and those that do may not share them under all circumstances. This being the, the present invention provides numerous advantages including the noted advantages of providing safe and efficient removal of airborne materials, including hazardous materials, from the localized air. These and other features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Problems solved by technology

There are many drawbacks to traditional exhaust fans used for removing various airborne materials in different applications.

For example, there are significant drawbacks associated with conventional exhaust fans that are used for removing from a localized area overspray from spray painting, airborne dust from surface sanding, and airborne chemicals from painting, varnishing, staining and similar activities.

One such drawback is that certain conventional exhaust fans expose the air traveling through the fan to events that can ignite those airborne materials that are flammable or combustible.

Thus, conventional exhaust fans are generally inappropriate to remove safely from a localized area air having flammable or combustible airborne materials.

Another drawback is that many currently-available exhaust fans do not protect the internal components of the fan from the air passing therethrough, resulting in an accumulation of materials on such internal components.

Unfortunately, such conventional fans cannot be disassembled.

As a result, a conventional exhaust fan used in such applications is replaced often due to the rapid accumulation of material on the fan components which adversely affects the operating performance of the fan.

Another drawback to some conventional exhaust fans is that they often do not clean the air before releasing it into the surrounding environment.

That is, the airborne materials are not sufficiently removed from the air.

As a result, such conventional exhaust fans are unsuitable for use in many communities in which clean air standards have been established.

Another drawback to some conventional exhaust fans is that they often cannot be placed in the localized area from which airborne materials are to be removed.

This may be due to, for example, the localized area not having a window that opens to the external environment or that the localized area has such a window but that the window dimensions are not appropriate for receiving the exhaust fan.

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